a. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of digital audio and video player devices that are preferably portable and receive content either from a secure subscription-based service, “a-la-carte” content delivery service, or from other participant devices, and more particularly to a portable player apparatus that is in wireless communications with an Internet-based file server and/or to a peer player apparatus, at least periodically. The present invention also relates to a system and method for delivery and management of such content to such devices, and improvements thereto.
b. Description of the Prior Art
The development of compressed digital audio and video formats, such as the Motion Picture Experts Group Layer 3 (MP3) audio compression standard, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC), Windows Media Audio (WMA), Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Ogg-Vorbis and others enabled the growth in popularity of recording, storing, transferring, and playing back digital audio and video data on computers, including personal desktop and laptop computers. In particular, compressed digital audio and video formats enabled more efficient storage and transmission of high-quality audio and video content by reducing the amount of digital data that needed to be stored and transmitted, resulting in data files that could be smaller than 1/10th of the original uncompressed digital file without unacceptably degrading the quality of the output. However, due to computational requirements, consumers were generally only able to access and use compressed and uncompressed digital audio and video on their personal laptop and desktop computers (except for conventional commercially-sold pre-recorded CDs and DVDs, which were playable on standard players connected to home stereos and the like). This severely limited portable use and access to such digital audio and video content in that it required the user to be present at or near his or her computer to see and/or hear the playback, which typically could only be through speakers and/or a screen internal to or connected to the computer and not easily transported in digital format to more favorable listening environments, such as the user's car.
More recently, relatively low-cost, lightweight, compact, portable digital media players (DMPs) have been developed, e.g., Thomson/RCA's various Lyra-branded products, Apple's iPod products, and Creative Lab's Zen line of portable MP3 player products. These portable devices enable consumers to transfer compressed digital audio and/or video files stored on their computers to the portable devices through the use of associated computer-based software via an external connection, such as a USB or “FireWire” cable, and to play the corresponding media on-demand through their DMPs while not in proximity to their computer. Users most commonly accessed the audio on the device by connecting headphones via a standard jack on the device, although it was also possible to connect a line-out cable to other audio output or recording devices, such as a microphone or line-input of a standard home stereo system.
Such DMPs originally tended to rely on the use of flash memory, such as compact flash or secure digital, for the storage of audio content, and were capable of holding a maximum of approximately 0.5 to 1 gigabyte of memory (and more recently 2, 4, 6 and 8 GB or more). So-called “portable jukeboxes” have also been introduced that can hold an estimated 10,000 songs or more of musical entertainment by including a miniature hard disk recorder in the housing of the device, which can have 40 gigabytes or more of capacity. Portable video players with even greater hard disk capacity have also been developed.
In general, conventional DMPs are capable of allowing their users to (1) transfer compressed media files from a computer to the device through the use of associated transfer management software installed on the computer and a physical connection to the computer, such as a USB cable; (2) store such compressed media files in non-destructive memory; (3) decode for playback any of a variety of compression algorithms; (4) convert a compressed or uncompressed digital file to an analog format, potentially also processing the signal to enhance the resulting sound and images; (5) process and amplify the resulting analog signal; and (6) produce high-fidelity sound and video for the user, which may be played, paused, fast-forwarded, rewound, skipped or replayed instantly and on-demand. Also, typically in the case of audio DMPs (e.g., the iPod “Nano”), the devices feature a relatively small digital display window that provides information regarding the audio content stored on the device, such as the title and artist, and enables viewing (and in some cases modifying) the sequence of the audio tracks that are currently stored on the device.
Disadvantageously, however, data transfer and advanced sorting and sequencing of selections are difficult or impossible for a user to accomplish unless the DMP is connected to the computer, which does not allow the user to obtain new content or to make other desirable modifications to the content stored on the DMP, such as easily modifying the sequence of the content selections stored on the device while the player device is not connected to the computer. Further, in the case of audio, these players typically do not enable a non-technical user to create and manage custom “playlists” (i.e., fixed song sequences), such that a user can easily develop and use a variety of personalized playlists for use at different times. Also disadvantageously, the display and user interface on these audio devices is typically limited in size, involves the use of multi-functional buttons which are complex for many users and is not touch-sensitive, thereby preventing non-expert users from easily viewing and modifying the listing and sequence of audio tracks stored on the DMP.
A further disadvantage of the prior art is that users are typically required to select content selections one-by-one and then to add them to the device. This requirement creates an inconvenience for the user since typically the user may prefer variety in programming and in many cases may not want to create a selection-by-selection sequence of entertainment, especially in the case of music. Programmed entertainment of this sort is currently available to consumers through traditional broadcast media and through other means that generally require the use of a device connected to a wired input, such as Internet-based streaming, accessible through laptop and desktop computers (and certain specialized wired devices, such as the Streamium audio device made by Royal Philips Electronics, or Sonos digital audio products), and digital cable television and radio services, accessible through cable-connected television sets. More recently, subscription-based commercial satellite broadcast services have been introduced, such as DirecTV for television and Sirius and XM for radio, which enable consumers to receive broadcast programming by selecting among available stations.
However, in all cases involving terrestrial and satellite broadcasts, the user does not have true on-demand access to a large library (e.g., 2 or 3 million items) of content, along with full transport control over pausing, skipping, repeating, fast-forwarding, rewinding and deleting content. Also, neither terrestrial and satellite broadcasts, nor Internet-based media services, allow the user to call up and access specific new selections on-demand on a portable device (which is preferably pocket-sized) that does not have full PC functionality (e.g., a laptop) and is not connected to an Internet connection. Accordingly, for the convenience of receiving programming with existing DMPs, the user is required to cede control over delivered content for convenience, or will be required to choose to cede convenience for control. Further, in the case of radio-linked audio player devices, player device reception is typically limited due to physical terrain and geographic features, which can distort radio signals that in all cases need to be continuously present and stable during the audio output to provide the user with a satisfactory entertainment experience. Further, of the forms of media services (e.g., TV and radio) available, only Internet-based streaming and digital cable, each of which require the user to use a stationary wired-device for access (e.g., television set and digital cable decoding box), and satellite broadcasts, which do not permit on-demand access or control by the user, provide digital-quality output, which may be a benefit required by users. The foregoing is partially mitigated by the development of consumer devices that permit digital recording of broadcast content by the end user. However, these devices generally have certain limitations: (1) The devices can store the digital content locally only when it is broadcast, requiring the user to wait for the broadcast to occur, and offering no opportunity for the user to access a missed broadcast. (2) In the case of music in particular, copyright and related laws limit the ability of these devices that receive broadcasts to be legally manufactured and marketed to consumers without explicit content owner approval, if such devices enable the user to exert a significant amount of control over the content playback and management, such as the ability to rewind or repeat a recording of broadcast satellite radio, or enable users to predict with certainty that particular copyrighted music will be broadcast at a particular time to enable the user to capture a digital recording.
A further disadvantage of the prior art is that a security method is not provided for content owners to enable distribution of content to users, management of the content and deletion/expiration of their content on a subscription basis using only a standalone DMP that is not reliant on the use of associated desktop or laptop computer software, while still maintaining royalty records and rights, especially against secondary party transfers. Content owners and users would also benefit from a way content can be shared laterally across peer-to-peer device transfers to other users of both the personal playlists and the media data content that may be stored in the player device in a way that is secure and that permits only authorized sharing activities. It can be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that the terms “audio”, “video”, “media”, and words of similar import may be used interchangeably throughout this document to describe the relevant content, since methods of digital video content compression, storage, transfer, playback and control can be accomplished by using very similar methods and technologies and are similarly well-known by those skilled in the art. Note that “content,” as used in this document, shall accordingly mean any audio or video recording that a user may seek to access, and also shall include any other file type capable of being interpreted by a user, such as a written document stored in digital form or a digitally stored and compressed photograph, which may be similarly transferred, shared and used.
An apparatus and system that solves many of the problems associated with the prior art has been previously filed as application Ser. No. 10/953,746 incorporated herein by reference. The present invention addresses additional issues and improvements to the previously described system.